Trick or Treat
by LadySophieKitty
Summary: Cordelia convinces Angel to go trick or treating with her.


Cordelia tapped her fingers on the desk, drumming out some fast and irritated rhythm. Right now, she should be snuggled up on the couch in some old pajamas at home, eating stale popcorn and watching a horror movie. As much as she loved her family, nothing was happening here and even family needed breaks from each other sometimes.

But no, her stupid manpire had insisted that they all stay in. Wesley was shut up in the office working on translating some ancient text, and Gunn and Fred were due back any minute now from a quick errand. Speaking of which, how fair was itthat those two got to go out?

The pace of her tapping increased with each thought. "Would you please stop that?" Angel finally asked. Cordelia ignored him and asked a question of her own.

"Isn't Halloween supposed to be like, a day off for you guys?"

"There are no breaks for us, even on Halloween," Angel replied.

"Pfft, like you have to remind me. Remember? I was there when Buffy turned into helpless colonial girl, Willow into ghosty woman, and Xander into hot, confidant army man," Cordelia said, her tapping finally stopping. At the look Angel shot her she said, "Way over him, that ship is sunk, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good memory."

Fortunately Fred and Gunn chose that moment to enter the hotel, saving Angel from having to make a reply. Fred giggled, her cheeks flushed and her eyes shining.

"You'll never guess what we saw on our way to the bank!" Fred exclaimed between mouthfuls of candy corn.

"What?" Cordelia said, barely managing to keep from saying something inappropriate.

"There was a guy wearing a cheerleading suit! His legs were really hairy," Fred replied.

"Yeah, it was awful," Gunn added before stealing a handful of candy corn from Fred.

Cordelia imagined Cheerleader Man in Sunnydale the year people actually turned into their costumes and laughed too.

The good mood didn't last, however, and soon Cordelia was back to feeling miserable and bored. Well, she had two options. She could continue to annoy and piss off Angel, or she could come up with something reasonable for them to do. The first option was very tempting and would be a lot of fun, but she decided to go with the second one. That way, the evening wouldn't be a complete waste of time.

"Angel? I was thinking," she started, ignoring his "uh-oh", "if we're staying in to try to stop evil forces, then why are we staying inside? We should be out there keeping an eye on everything! Unless there's a website online called .com somewhere that I don't know about."

"Girl's got a point," Gunn said.

Cordelia shot him a grin. "Thanks, Gunn. You don't even have to come, Angel! You can stay in here and be the Scrooge of Halloween while we go out."

"No, I'm coming with you and keeping you out of trouble. Gunn, Fred, you stay here and keep an eye on things," Angel said as he reluctantly got up and steered her out the door.

The minute she was outside, Cordelia gave a little sigh of relief. It was a beautiful night outside. The night was cool with a slight breeze, and the almost full moon was giving the world a nice glow. The sounds of kids' laughter was everywhere and infectious, making Cordelia laugh as well.

"What's so funny?" Angel asked her.

"Oh nothing. I was just thinking of how much I used to love Halloween. I'd always dress up as a princess or a queen and my friends and I would have competitions to see who could get the most candy! After that, we'd eat ridiculous amounts of candy and be on a sugar high for days. Halloween was always my favorite holiday because for a day, you could pretend to be someone you weren't. Of course, later on, I was a queen at high school and a princess in another dimension! Too bad I'm too old to go trick or treating now," Cordelia said the last part a bit wistfully.

"Why don't you?"

"Oh, Angel, I can't! The people passing out the candy hate it when you reach a certain age and I'm definitely past that age. I'm not even wearing a costume."

"I thought you don't care what people think," Angel said with a slight smirk.

"Fine, but you're coming with me, mister. I'm not doing this alone!" Cordelia grabbed his hand and they walked to the nearest house where a group of kids were already waiting. An old woman opened the door and began to pass out candy.

"Oh my, you are a scary monster!" she said to one boy, putting a few lollypops in his bag.

"And you are a beautiful princess, dear!" she said to a little girl, handing her some tootsie rolls.

"Would the parents like some candy, too?" she asked to Cordelia and Angel. Cordelia was about to correct her and tell her that they weren't parents or together, but Angel put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"If you don't mind," he said. The old woman grinned and handed them each a handful of candy.

Cordelia's eyes were shining and she had a huge grin on her face, suddenly making the whole trip worthwhile to Angel.

"Here, I don't need this," he said, handing her his candy.

"Thank you, Angel. I'm having fun tonight," Cordelia whispered, and she impulsively gave him a peck on the cheek.

Angel decided that if all Halloweens were like this one, maybe he wouldn't hate it so much after all.


End file.
